Porsche completely redesigns the 911 Carrera

The iconic, brand-defining Porsche 911 Carrera has once again been redesigned, and the latest incarnation will be seen for the first time at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It's lighter, more economical, more powerful, cleaner and orders are being taken from September 1, with deliveries beginning December 3. After 48 years, the 911 remains a rear-engined, boxer six with vague styling similarities to the 956 and Volkswagen Beetle DNA, but the 911 name still represents excellence, performance and a badge of success.

The new 911 visually seems flatter and longer than the current 911, though in reality, the wheelbase is just 100 mm longer. The new aluminum and steel body is largely responsible for the car's 45 kg weight reduction, though, truth be known, many of the people who will buy this car might be carrying that much extra weight on their person - the biggest advantage will be the increased rigidity of the new body.

Handling has been further improved in a number of different ways on the new Porsche's with the technological gem of the bunch being the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) which gets its first public outing on a production Porsche on the Carrera S.

PDCC is an active roll stabilization system which reduces lateral inclination when cornering, enabling the tires to remain in an optimal position relative to the road surface and hence able to transmit higher lateral forces. Porsche claims that cornering speeds have been increased by PDCC, with faster lap times resulting from the system as well as greater passive safety due to increased traction when it is most needed.

One of the interesting aspects of the new 911 is its aerodynamic optimization with a wider, variably-extending rear spoiler. Just as F1 cars can reduce their drag coefficient (Cd) for passing, both new 911 Carreras can reduce high speed lift while retaining efficient aerodynamics.

One of the many interesting aspects of the new 911 Carrera is the pricing which it will command in various markets around the world.

The announced pricing in some of the markets for which the car is destined is wildly disparate, for example:

For all the many advantages of living in Australia, buying a new Porsche is clearly not one of them.

The new 911 Carrera and Carrera S have made some major advances in reducing fuel consumption and emissions thanks to an array of systems standard in the new car, such as auto start/stop, thermal management, electrical system recuperation, a seven-speed manual transmission or the Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) transmission, and electro-mechanical power steering.

Like all prior 911's the new Carrera and Carrera S have six cylinder, horizontally-opposed engines. The Carerra's 3.4 liter engine produces 350 bhp (257 kW) while the Carrera S sports a 3.8 liter 400 bhp (294 kW) engine. With the optional PDK fitted the Carrera consumes 8.2 liters per 100 kilometers (34 mpg imp.) based on the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) - 1.6 l/100 km (6 mpg imp.) less than the current Carrera, a reduction of around 16%. The Carrera S motor has also reduced consumption despite 15 hp (11 kW) more power than the current S, delivering 8.7 l/100 km (32 mpg imp.).

Both motors produce similar reductions in CO2 emissions, the Carrera at 194 g/km CO2, and the S at 205 g/km.

Performance, the 911's hallmark, has also been improved, with the PDK-equipped 911 Carrera S now capable of hitting 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds, with that time reduced to 4.1 seconds if the optional Sport Chrono package is fitted. The 911 Carrera with PDK is slightly slower to that mark at 4.6 seconds (Sport Plus 4.4 seconds).

Of course, several other new models based on the new 911, such as the Turbo and GT3 are now expected in the near to medium future. Indications are that neither of those models will surface in Frankfurt.

After Editing or Managing over 50 print publications primarily in the role of a Magazine Doctor, Mike embraced the internet full-time in 1995 and became a "start-up all-rounder" – quite a few start-ups later, he founded Gizmag in 2002. Now he can write again. All articles by Mike Hanlon

looks the same as the 1999 911 with a broken engine in our shop ($15,000.00) repair with the same AWFUL BEIGE interior with a 1999 VW jetta interior build quality nope not even interested, yes, I agree Michael,, BEIGE aka baby poop brown, yeetch, at least it could be red on the outside

Bill Bennett 25th August, 2011 @ 07:58 pm PDT

Just a wild guess, Michael and Bill are BIG Nascar fans.

Dennis Roberts 25th August, 2011 @ 10:45 pm PDT

Thank you for showing the price comparison between the various countries.

One may say that it is strange that Germany pays more for a locally produced car when the USA pays much less - but the reality here is that it has long been known that cars sold in the USA are subsidised by other markets just so that they can compete.

I know all about the RIPOFF of Euro cars sold in Australia when compared with the USA and Canada. Even a BMW 330i with a couple of little options is around $40,000 cheaper in Canada than it is here >:(

Matt51F1 25th August, 2011 @ 11:13 pm PDT

Yep time to kick the corporate gougers in the goolies.

Selling the same old, same old, at 220% to 270% higher in the Australian market, compared to the USA.... when our dollar is worth more.

Yep take it down the tip and burn it.

Mr Stiffy 25th August, 2011 @ 11:31 pm PDT

Cars are the last holdout for the multinationals ripping off the Australian public. Almost everything else can be bought on the net now from where ever, from books to boats you can import it yourself. Nike is even trying to stop aussies from buying shoes from the USA by encouraging their US dealers to stop internet sales to Australia. Proof if ever there was that it is not the retailers making a big fat profit in Australia but the wholesaler/importer Nike themselves.

Sad thing with cars is successive Australian governments have been complicit in aiding this ripoff of their own people by trying to justify it with the BS of ADRs and essentially all but banning grey imports. If the market became open so you or I could import our own car if we desire as long as it passes a pits test you can be sure the official channels for euro cars would tumble in price also. How the ACCC can justify it's existence when it does nothing about this scam is beyond me.

Simon 26th August, 2011 @ 06:44 am PDT

A recollection:

In the book "The millionair mind" (or something like it) the researchers found that the average really wealthy person tended to buy good quality, second hand, cars - about 2 or 3 years old, and then drove them on average, I think about 4 or 5 years, before buying another late model second hand car.

The loss of value - or depreciation, from the show room to the street of 20 or 30% was avoided - and a couple of years on the road - dropped the resale value even more.

The fact that almost none of them bought exotic (????) imports - meant that pound for pound - they got excellent value for the amount of vehicle purchased.

(inventing this amount because I have no time to calculate it out)

Say a car built locally - a decent basic model car costs say $40,000 - has an inline 6 cylinder motor and it weighs say 2200Kg (or 5,000lbs), and say a Porch Stooge Mobile costs $270,000, has a flat 6 cylinder motor and weighs say 2000Kg or 4,400lbs - well it works out like this:

The local auto costs $18 a Kg or $8 a pound.

The Stooge Mobile costs $135 a Kg or $61 a pound.

Thus by bypassing the whole Stooge Mobile scam, by buying the $40,000 locally made car, SECOND HAND for $20,000 - you get a good car that costs $9 a Kg or $4 a pound.

This is why "glamor" and "hollywood images of success" rate highly in the lives of people who have no money, and very low in the lives of those who do - especially if they live in Australia; OR

Why all the losers have a $270,000 Porch Stooge Mobile - which loses enormous amounts of value driving it off the showroom floor, and every year afterwards - not including the astronomical costs of repairs, maintenance and insurance etc., and I have a $20,000 car that has marginal depreciation, cheap spares and low overheads.

So at $61 a pound for a Porche vs $4 a pound for the good quality second hand car, you know where Porche can park their Stooge Mobiles.

Mr Stiffy 26th August, 2011 @ 09:38 am PDT

4 inches of extra wheelbase is exactly what this overpriced piece of engineering needed - desperately. Now it looks properly balanced and the lines flow more completely. Small improvements, like maintaining optimal contact patches during cornering, are significant and long overdue.

Now I can feel confident that I'm paying for more than just a name and the ability to crash going backward at high speed.

Muraculous 26th August, 2011 @ 09:53 am PDT

Looks like a new version of the E-Type.

Omage to Bob Gregroie headlamps poorly handled.

Island Architect 26th August, 2011 @ 11:37 am PDT

Gives new meaning to "completely:" as in com..ly redesigned..." Oh well, just what the overly bankrolled peter pan needs.

Walt Stawicki 29th August, 2011 @ 04:29 pm PDT

Mr Stiffy -

Not that this is really on topic, but I agree with your "used car is good" assessment. I was able to buy a Mercedes CLK500 Cabrio for less than half the new car price coming off a 3 year lease ($29k versus $65k). And who cares if it's new, the car is in mint condition. If you think about it - someone who owns a high end car really takes good care of it. What a deal this is!! And even got one of those platinum warranties to boot - giving me lots more price protection over the 4-ish years I will own it. Even the person who leased my car probably paid more per month than I do, and I'll actually own the car.